Conservative John Hayes says two new plants by Japanese firm Hitachi would feed electricity into grid in first half of 2020s

A Tory energy minister has defended plans for a fleet of new nuclear power stations in the face of concerns from some MPs, declaring: "I won't be influenced by the preoccupations of bourgeois left academics, I'll be inspired by the will of the people."

John Hayes said Japanese engineering giant Hitachi's deal to build two power plants which could be feeding electricity into the national grid in the first half of the 2020s, was "good news" for Britain's supply chain, its people, energy mix and energy security.

His comments, during Commons Energy and Climate Change questions, came as Lib Dem Deputy leader Simon Hughes sought "absolute clarity" on the issue of subsidising new nuclear power stations.

Mr Hughes said: "May I seek absolute clarity, given that Liberal Democrats are opposed to a new generation of nuclear power stations and the Coalition deal was only done on the basis that there would be no public subsidy of any nuclear power, can I have an express assurance from ministers that the construction and operation of every nuclear power station in the future will have no Government subsidy at all, absolutely so that Hitachi understands it and everybody else understands it too?

Mr Hayes said he wanted to be "crystal clear", adding: "There will be no levy, no direct payment, no market support for electricity supplied or capacity provided by a private sector new nuclear operator unless similar support is also made available more widely to other types of generation. I couldn't be clearer than that."

But Green Dr Caroline Lucas, MP for Brighton Pavilion, said Mr Hayes "could be a lot clearer than that", saying: "A subsidy is still a subsidy even if it is given to other than just nuclear, it's still a subsidy."

She said: "Will he admit that under the constraints of the levy cap, he faces a choice as to whether or not to breach the renewables directive, to breach the Climate Change Act or to abandon his increasingly implausible plans for new nuclear build."

Mr Hayes replied: "Nuclear power is a low emissions technology. She should welcome it accordingly. The fact of the matter is that she must have regarded this week's good news as bad news. But it's good news in terms of the supply chain, it's good news as far as the British people are concerned and it's good news as far as our energy mix and our energy security is concerned. I won't be influenced by the preoccupations of bourgeois left academics, I'll be inspired by the will of the people."

The £700 million deal announced earlier this week is expected to create thousands of jobs for construction workers, engineers and other skilled employees, and spark a multibillion-pound investment in the nuclear industry.

Hitachi is buying Horizon Nuclear Power, which has the rights to build reactors at Wylfa on Anglesey, North Wales, and Oldbury in Gloucestershire, from its German owners E.ON and RWE npower.